Internal combustion engines having a rotary configuration can generally be classified as turbine or non-turbine. In turbine engines, a flow of combustion gases parallel to an axle impacts inclined vanes attached to the axle, causing the axle to rotate. This rotational motion is then used to perform work. This type of rotary internal combustion engine is widely accepted and used.
The field of non-turbine rotary engines has seen far less development and practical application. In this field, only eccentric rotary engines, such as the Wankel engine, have been significantly developed and used. Non-turbine rotary engines that are also non-eccentric have been proposed in numerous patents, but have not seen significant development and use to this date. Representative examples of engines of this general type can be seen in the following U.S. Patents:
U.S. Pat. No. 1,458,641 issued to Cizek in 1923 for a “Rotary Internal-Combustion Engine.”
U.S. Pat. No. 1,482,627 issued to Bullington in 1924 for a “Rotary Internal Combustion Engine.”
U.S. Pat. No. 2,816,527 issued to Palazzo in 1957 for a “Rotary Four-Stroke Engine.”
U.S. Pat. No. 2,944,533 issued to Park in 1960 for an “Internal Combustion Engine.”
U.S. Pat. No. 3,227,090 issued to Bartolozzi in 1966 for a “Engine or Pump Having Rotors Defining Chambers of Variable Volumes.”
U.S. Pat. No. 3,595 issued to McMaster in 1971 for “Rotary Engines.”
U.S. Pat. No. 3,712,273 issued to Thomas in 1973 for an “Internal Combustion Rotary Engine.”
U.S. Pat. No. 3,857,370 issued to Hemenway in 1974 for a “Rotary Internal Combustion Engine.”
U.S. Pat. No. 3,885,532 issued to Pike in 1975 for a “Rotary Engine.”
U.S. Pat. No. 3,918,414 issued to Hughes in 1975 for a “Rotary Motor.”
U.S. Pat. No. 4,136,661 issued to Posson in 1979 for a “Rotary Engine.”
U.S. Pat. No. 4,148,292 issued to Reyblatt in 1979 for a “Energy Conversion Devices.”
U.S. Pat. No. 4,239,465 issued to Guillaume in 1980 for a “Rotary Motor with Alternating Pistons.”
U.S. Pat. No. 4,279,577 issued to Appleton in 1981 for a “Alternating Piston Rotary Engine with Latching Control Mechanism and Lost Motion Connection.”
U.S. Pat. No. 4,319,551 issued to Rubinshtein in 1982 for a “Rotary Internal Combustion Engine.”
U.S. Pat. No. 4,646,694 issued to Fawcett in 1987 for a “Rotary Engine.”
U.S. Pat. No. 5,192,201 issued to Beben in 1993 for a “Rotary Engine and Drive Coupling.”
U.S. Pat. No. 5,685,269 issued to Wittry in 1997 for a “High Speed Rotary Engine and Ignition System.”
However, none of these devices provides the simplicity, efficiency, ease of operation and advantages of my invention.